Mount Saint Mary Academy has been named one of the top 100 high schools in the country for teaching personal finance by Working in Support of Education (W!SE). The announcement was made during a ceremony at the New York Stock Exchange on April 7. The Mount is the only all-girls school and the only Catholic school on the list.

The 100 Best W!SE High Schools Teaching Personal Finance list recognizes the top performing high schools in W!SE’s national network. The release of the rankings marks the 11th anniversary of the W!SE Financial Literacy Certification Program. Every member of the Mount’s Financial Math class passed the certification test earlier this school year. Academy students have been taking the certification test since the 2011-2012 school year when Math Department Chair Kathleen Brennan first introduced a financial literacy program to the school.

“It is critical that young women become knowledgeable of saving and investment strategies so that they can make wise financial choices in the future,” said Brennan. “Many of the problems of our most recent financial crisis stemmed from consumers who were not knowledgeable about credit, debt, and leverage; the mission of the financial literacy program at the Mount is to make sure that our students have the tools to make good financial decisions.”

The Mount’s Financial Math course is designed to help students apply economics and decision-making skills to the real world of earning, spending, and managing money. Course topics range from mathematical lessons on interest and present value to career planning, banking, and finance.

“Every lesson is one they will use at some point in their lives,” said Mount Math teacher Stephen Muratore, who currently teaches Financial Math. “Everything we cover is something these students will see or experience to some extent.”

The Mount’s financial literacy program was designed in the spirit of empowering women in a field that is traditionally dominated by men so that they are able, not only to hold their own, but to thrive. As a result, the Mount is at the forefront of teaching financial literacy to students, consistent with the school’s broader mission of empowering strong, independent women.